Public comments sought on Navy plans

The U.S. Navy plans to continue using the Farallon de Mendenilla for target practice and doing underwater sonar training in the Mariana Islands and is asking the public if it has any comments about this.

The Navy published last June 5 its final study on the potential environmental impacts associated with its military exercises and will wait for 30 days, until July 5, to hear from the public, before making a final decision.

The Navy proposes to continue its military readiness training and testing activities throughout its “Study Area,” at-sea and on Farallon de Medinilla, and on-land, in Guam and the CNMI. In their study, the Navy presented action and no-action alternatives, in relation to stressors in their operations that could potentially impact different resources, including water and air quality, marine habitat, birds, and mammals, fish, sea turtles, and land species and habitats.

The Navy also considered stressors on the islands’ cultural resources, socioeconomic resources and environmental justice, as well as public health and safety. Under the no-action alternative, proposed training and testing activities would basically not occur in the study area.

When asked about this, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said he has never agreed to the Mariana Islands Training and Testing proposal, even when he was still a senator, and is urging people to review the proposal and send comments to the military.

“I’ve never agreed to the regional proposal, and I continue to echo that concern because I’ve always been a steward of protecting our environment, and making sure that we know what we have, and to embrace that, [on] Tinian, Pagan, or the whole Northern Islands, even Saipan,” he said.

The governor added that the military is aware about the CNMI’s concern and aggressiveness in protecting not just the environment but also its culture. “Culture is something that is embedded in us. It’s something that we don’t just fight for, it’s something that we practice.”

Impact to the CNMI

In their study, the Navy laid out the effects their proposed actions would have on the environment, in particular, in terms of physical resources (air and water quality, sediments), biological (marine and terrestrial habitat, fish, among others), and human resources (culture, socioeconomic, public health).

Mariana Islands Training and Testing Study Area. Source: Mariana Islands Training and Testing Final Supplemental EIS/OEIS, June 2020. (MITT)

As an example, for terrestrial species and habitat, the Navy states that there will be a small increase in the number of explosions on FDM. “The types of explosive munitions used on FDM include explosive bombs, missiles, rockets, explosive grenades and mortars, medium-caliber projectiles, and large-caliber projectiles,” the study stated.

Under the no-action alternative, the proposed training and testing activities would not occur in the study area. However, the study noted that for FDM, the lease agreement between the U.S. government and the CNMI would remain in place, and the island would continue to be maintained as a Navy range.

For fish, the study states that the use of explosives could result in impacts on fishes within the study area, adding that “sound and energy from explosions are capable of causing mortality, injury, hearing loss, masking, physiological stress, or behavioral responses.”

And then for marine birds, explosions in the water or near the water’s surface, according to the study, “present a risk to marine birds located near the explosion because the resulting shock waves can cause injury or result in the death of an animal.”

For humans, the proposed actions may result in impacts on commercial and recreational fishing, traditional fishing practices, or tourism when areas of co-use are temporarily inaccessible during training and testing activities to ensure public safety.

And while the Navy has standard operating procedures to ensure no overlap between military and non-military activities, the report states that this may still potentially happen.

A full report is available for everyone to review at https://mitt-eis.com/

Not enough public involvement

Torres, as reflected in the public comments included in the study, said that the two weeks the Navy provided for comments “is an incredibly short time for stakeholders to review and develop substantive comments when considering the length of the SEIS document and its supporting materials.”

“We do not believe the U.S. Navy satisfied its responsibility to provide opportunities for effective community participation in the NEPA process. …It seems more could be done to ensure meaningful participation within the NEPA process for this and future Department of Defense actions,” he said.

The Navy held four open house public meetings, on Tinian on March 14; Rota on March 15; Saipan on March 18; and Guam on March 19, all last year.

The governor also asserted that when discussing the significance of potential impacts and possible mitigation measures, dialogues should be framed within local context, and respectful of regional conditions and the views of the community most likely to be affected, such as the people of the CNMI.

Torres, at Monday’s radio news briefing, reiterated his concern, and has appealed to the community to join in, put their concerns in writing and submit it, stressing that this is the only way that “our Department of Defense partners will also understand that our concern is a community-based concern.”

“I am concerned about it and we will make sure that our concern is echoed before the final rod is being signed, I believe end of July or first week of August. We do have that 30-day window. We’re not taking any day off. I’ve asked [Special Assistant for Military Affairs] Glenna Reyes to make sure that the team, with all the permitting agencies, address those concerns, and to make sure that it’s on writing, to address our concerns.”

“I also ask our community to please put in your concerns, so that as a collective concern, it will be louder,” he added.

In March, Rep. Sheila Babauta (Ind-Saipan) filed a resolution to oppose any increase in military presence or training in the CNMI, as well as to oppose all proposed military use of the Northern Islands. Concerned citizens, such as members of Our Common Wealth and the Northern Marianas Descent Corp., spoke in support of the resolution.

The community only has about three weeks left to comment on the environmental impact study. Comments can be submitted to the community group, ‘Our Common Wealth’ by emailing ourcommonwealth670@gmail.com.